'It's months': Officials have no timeline yet for reopening the Science Center of Iowa's IMAX theater

Justin Rule, chief projectionist for the Science Center of Iowa's IMAX theater, explains the process of splicing 70mm IMAX film movies together that create the movies played on the giant screen.
Kelsey Kremer/The Register

The Blank IMAX Dome Theater at the Science Center of Iowa is still months from reopening more than five months after sustaining flood damage, the Science Center’s president said Friday.

Curt Simmons, also the center’s CEO, said the center is working with IMAX to determine whether it needs to repair or replace the damaged equipment, which includes the movie screen, its projector and the theater’s audio system.

Water spread out across the theater, including inside the ceiling. Along with the screen and projector. Simmons said the water also damaged the theater’s film collection. IMAX staff will have to screen each of them individually to decide whether they need to be replaced, he said.

The specialized IMAX projector cost around $1.5 million when the Science Center bought it 15 years ago, Simmons said. Technicians from IMAX came to Des Moines to inspect its damage. A replacement screen, if needed, could run the center around $250,000 or $300,000, Simmons said.

An IMAX spokesperson confirmed the company is working with the center to reopen the theater but couldn’t provide a specific timeline. Simmons said both parties are being careful and thoughtful in their approach.

“This is not like a flooded basement,” he said, noting the specialized equipment at stake.

Simmons said that after IMAX and the Science Center arrive at a path forward, the center’s insurance company will determine how much of the cost it will cover. Then, the necessary repairs or replacements will be able to commence.

Some patrons have asked about when the theater will reopen, but Simmons said the Science Center has still had a strong first quarter of its fiscal year, in terms of visitors, because there’s “plenty to do even without catching an IMAX film.”

The center’s IMAX theater first opened in 2005. The 216-seat theater holds one of 92 giant dome screens in the world.